Divided Koreas discuss abductions, prisoner exchange as talks stretch into third day

By: BO-MI LIM - Associated Press Writer | Sunday, April 23, 2006 8:03 PM PDT ∞

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- South Korea on Sunday proposed sending captured North Korean spies home in exchange for the release of South Korean citizens believed held in the communist North.

The overture came a day after Seoul hinted at possible economic assistance to Pyongyang if it cooperates in addressing the issue of an estimated 486 South Koreans abducted by the North and believed still to be living there. South Korea also says the North is holding 542 others taken prisoner during the 1950-53 Korean War.

"We proposed to the North that we are willing to include (former North Korean spies in the South) when South Korean abductees and POWs ... are returned," a high-ranking South Korean delegate said in Pyongyang on the sidelines of Cabinet-level talks between the countries, according to pool reports.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the ongoing talks, also said both sides "had an open exchange of discussions" on the issue of Kim Young-nam, a South Korean man who was allegedly abducted to the North decades ago and is believed to have married Japanese kidnapping victim Megumi Yokota.

Kim's relatives were to travel to Japan on June 10 to meet Yokota's family and other Japanese families of kidnapping victims, Japan's Kyodo News agency reported. The Yokotas are also planning to visit South Korea around May 10, Kyodo said, citing Kim's sister.

In 2000, the South repatriated 63 North Korean spies to their communist homeland. Another 28 alleged North Korean spies in South Korea have demanded to be repatriated.

Unification Minister Lee Jong-seok, South Korea's chief delegate to the inter-Korean talks, said Saturday that Seoul will make "a reciprocal decision of cooperation" if the North helps address the abduction issue.

Lee didn't specify what the reciprocal measure would be, but he said last week that he would propose "bold economic assistance" to its impoverished neighbor in exchange for the return of the South Korean nationals.

When the South previously raised the issue, North Korea denied holding any war prisoners and said the civilians defected voluntarily.

On Sunday, Lee said he could "neither be optimistic nor pessimistic" about this week's talks, where the South also hopes to convince the North to return to stalled international talks on ending its nuclear program.

"There is a big difference in what each side wants from the talks," Lee said, according to pool reports from journalists who accompanied the South Korean delegation. "It is not easy. We will have to see."

Lee and his North Korean counterpart, Kwon Ho Ung, met for 70 minutes Sunday afternoon, but details of the discussion were not immediately known.

A South Korean official said the two sides were to continue negotiations through the night in order to issue a joint statement on agreements, according to pool reports. The statement was to be endorsed during Monday's concluding session of Cabinet-level talks -- the highest-level regular dialogue channel between the Koreas.

At a farewell dinner Sunday evening, Kwon said the two sides should combine their "force and wisdom" to resolve outstanding issues. By tearing down the "last barrier of division and confrontation" the Koreas could "firmly accomplish national cooperation" on the divided peninsula, he said, according to pool reports.

On Saturday, Lee urged the North to return to nuclear disarmament talks, last held in November. The North has boycotted the negotiations with China, Japan, South Korea, Russia and the United States, protesting financial restrictions imposed by Washington for the North's alleged wrongdoing, including currency counterfeiting.

The Koreas officially remain in a state of conflict because the armistice that ended the Korean War has never been replaced with a peace treaty. However, their relations have warmed significantly since the first-ever meeting of their leaders in 2000.